Trophic Downgrading of Planet Earth-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

Trophic Downgrading of Planet Earth

Published:2011-07-15 Issue:6040 Volume:333 Page:301-306
ISSN:0036-8075
Container-title:Science
language:en
Short-container-title:Science

Author:

Estes James A.¹,Terborgh John²,Brashares Justin S.³,Power Mary E.⁴,Berger Joel⁵,Bond William J.⁶,Carpenter Stephen R.⁷,Essington Timothy E.⁸,Holt Robert D.⁹,Jackson Jeremy B. C.¹⁰,Marquis Robert J.¹¹,Oksanen Lauri¹²,Oksanen Tarja¹³,Paine Robert T.¹⁴,Pikitch Ellen K.¹⁵,Ripple William J.¹⁶,Sandin Stuart A.¹⁰,Scheffer Marten¹⁷,Schoener Thomas W.¹⁸,Shurin Jonathan B.¹⁹,Sinclair Anthony R. E.²⁰,Soulé Michael E.²¹,Virtanen Risto²²,Wardle David A.²³

Affiliation:

1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA.

2. Center for Tropical Conservation, Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Post Office Box 90381, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.

3. Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

4. Department of Integrative Biology, Valley Life Sciences Building, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

5. Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA and Wildlife Conservation Society, Bozeman, MT 59715, USA.

6. Botany Department, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa.

7. Center for Limnology, 680 North Park Street, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA.

8. School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Box 355020, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

9. Department of Biology, Post Office Box 118525, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.

10. Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.

11. Department of Biology, University of Missouri–St. Louis, One University Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63121, USA.

12. Department of Biology, Section of Ecology, University of Turku, FI-20014 Turku, Finland and Department of Natural Sciences, Finnmark University College, N-9509 Alta, Norway.

13. Department of Biology, Section of Ecology, University of Turku, FI-20014 Turku, Finland and Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, SE-90087 Umeå, Sweden.

14. Department of Biology, Box 351800, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

15. School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.

16. Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, 314 Richardson Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.

17. Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, Post Office Box 8080, 6700 DD Wageningen, Netherlands.

18. Section of Evolution and Ecology and Center for Population Biology, 6328 Storer Hall, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.

19. Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.

20. Centre for Biodiversity Research, 6270 University Boulevard, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.

21. Post Office Box 1808, Paonia, CO 81428, USA.

22. Department of Biology, University of Oulu, FI-90014 Oulu, Finland.

23. Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Faculty of Forestry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE901-83 Umeä, Sweden.

Abstract

Until recently, large apex consumers were ubiquitous across the globe and had been for millions of years. The loss of these animals may be humankind’s most pervasive influence on nature. Although such losses are widely viewed as an ethical and aesthetic problem, recent research reveals extensive cascading effects of their disappearance in marine, terrestrial, and freshwater ecosystems worldwide. This empirical work supports long-standing theory about the role of top-down forcing in ecosystems but also highlights the unanticipated impacts of trophic cascades on processes as diverse as the dynamics of disease, wildfire, carbon sequestration, invasive species, and biogeochemical cycles. These findings emphasize the urgent need for interdisciplinary research to forecast the effects of trophic downgrading on process, function, and resilience in global ecosystems.

Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Subject

Multidisciplinary

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